Uncle Sam Visits Fourth Of July Hot Dog Eating Contest

Uncle Sam (Christopher Lueck) at the 2011 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest Last week in our event spotlight we were gearing up to watch the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. For those of you that aren't up to speed on your competitive eating trivia, Joey Chestnut won the competition, claiming his fifth straight championship title by devouring 62 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes.

This year also marked the first ever women’s competition and Sonya Thomas earned the top honors with eating 40 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes. Clearly they both have healthy appetites. Of course we were anxious to see who would leave victorious from the contest, but we were even more excited to see one of our very own members, Otsie Kerplotsie, perform as Uncle Sam for the Fourth of July festivities. Otsie Kerplotsie (Christopher Lueck), had such a great time that he wanted to share his experience with us:

CL: “Stilt walking through a crowd of nearly 30,000 tightly packed New Yorkers on the Fourth of July is no joke, but it is tremendous fun! I was the stilt walking Uncle Sam at this year's Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn, USA. A huge crowd gathered to watch Joey Chestnut and Sonya Thomas earn the titles of Hot Dog Eating World Champions by devouring more dogs in 10 minutes than I have ever eaten in my whole life! From my perspective (about 11 feet tall on stilts) this event was a ton of fun! Looking out over the massive crowd I could feel the excitement. The energy was off the charts. Armed with a water gun, bubble sword, juggling clubs, and my comic whit I maneuvered through the crowd entertaining and posing for photo opportunities. The event was a true celebration of American spirit and an amazing competition. I am grateful to have been a part of it. Hope to be there next year!”

GigMasters would like to say a big thank you to Chris for sharing the details of this great 4th of July gig with us!